DEATH - BELIEVER & UNBELIEVER
When the final curtain falls on human history, and time is ended, the eternal state will commence, unblemished, everlasting, and not even a ripple in the course of events there will remind us of this terrible war between good and evil. But I fancy that once every so often (we can't state a period of time!), perhaps the equivalent of 1,000 years, certain of us who lost loved ones and dear friends to the darkness of eternal damnation will gather in somber rememberance. Ofcourse, we will not be capable of feeling pain or remorse, for our eternal bodies, or more specific, our souls, will have been "overhauled" by God, and those injurious emotions will be unattainable. But I can imagine that whatever brief statement is uttered at that time will express the very thought that I am thinking at this moment...what a needless tragedy it was that so many souls rejected the love of God, brushed aside His gracious gift of redemption, and ended up in the Lake of Fire forever. I have reflected upon this predicament many times, and given thanks that I will not have to be present at the final judgement, The Great White Throne of Rev 20, to hear and see the heart rending torment of those wretched creatures, both man and angel, as they stand before Jesus Christ to hear their sentence. The greatest of ironies is found here; That the souls in heaven and the souls in hell will be exactly the same, in terms of their worthiness. No human being is capable of attaining divine Righteousness, which is the one principle imputation, along with Eternal Life, that we are given at salvation. The scriptures speak many times of this transaction, and for good reason, for all who dwell with God must have these attributes. The one distinction between the saved and unsaved, as far as their own will is involved, will be that greatest of all decisions that we must make in this life. Every man will make it, and the choice they make will determine their everlasting destiny...Paradise or Hell. What a terrible waste! So many men, numbered in the trillions, will casually throw away the free gift of redemption. And this catastrophe will be all the worse in light of the fact that no demands are placed upon our salvation. We are not required to do good deeds, or follow any preordained manner of life...many of those in heaven will be people who were saved, perhaps in childhood, and completely forgot they had accepted Christ as Savior! Others will have lived a life of corruption, even crime and violence. Yet, they will be in heaven because they made one right choice! As humans we find it difficult to fit this grace attitude into our lives, for we learn all our life that nothing we ever aquire is free. Everything has a price, sometimes it's hidden, but it's always there. This principle applies to material and intangible alike. BUT! The greatest treaure of all is absolutely FREE!!!. In fact, even if we wanted to buy salvation it is not for sale at any price. This is precisely the issue at the last judgement! Millions of the unsaved will have lived their lives trying to "buy" salvation with their good deeds and sacrifices...none of which results in divine Righteousness. Such is their indictment and sentence, as the judgement passage makes clear, for they are found in "The Book of Works" and not in "The Book of Life". I can't say this too many times; No sin will be mentioned at the Last Judgement! This is so because the issue of sin was settled at the cross. Christ already bore the sins of all mankind and paid the price of punishment to the satisfaction of The Father, who acted as His Judge. Hear this, leagalistic Christians! God did all the work of salvation, made all the sacrifices, covered all the bases. He dvised a plan, executed the plan, and revealed it to us. His is the glory. Our part is redeption is simple, even simpler than simple...all we must do is say YES!, and at that moment we are saved forever. Nothing can take it away from us. Reference Links: HOMEPAGE OPTIONS THE GOSPEL OF SALVATION (Christian Life) THE ANGELIC CONFLICT (Satanology) THE PLAN OF GOD (Theology) THE SLAVE MARKET (Basics) THE ETERNAL STATE (Theology) DIAGRAMS JUDGEMENT OF THE DAMNED ---> [ INSIGHTS ] [ HOME ] [DIAGRAM MENU ] |